Waves’ Nx Ocean Way plugin brings the sound of the famous Nashville studio’s control room to any set of headphones

GEAR 2021: Having already attempted to replicate the experience of mixing in a control room at Abbey Road Studios, Waves is now emulating the sound of another legendary facility: Nashville’s Ocean Way Studios. 

The Nx Ocean Way plugin promises to bring the acoustic environment and monitoring system of the Ocean Way Nashville studio control rooms to any pair of studio headphones, the theory being that this will enable you to create mixes that translate accurately to multiple playback systems.

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Development was supervised by Allen Sides, who founded and designed Ocean Way, and promises to replicate the control room’s acoustics and the sound of its Ocean Way Audio HR1 and HR5 far-field and near-field monitors.

Stick it on your master bus and we’re assured that, whatever kind of headphones you’re using, you’ll be better equipped to judge mix depth, panning, reverb placement and amount, low-end response and more.

Nx Ocean Way supports head-tracking - either via a webcam or the Waves Nx Head Tracker - to create an immersive 3D effect.

“With Ocean Way, it was always about the sound,” says Allen Sides. “In all the studios we built over the years, the single most important thing was the monitor systems. What this plugin gives you is the space to create a better mix. You can put on a set of headphones, and it sounds like you're sitting in this amazing control room, with an amazing set of speakers in front of you.

“This is a phenomenally accurate reproduction of what we created at Ocean Way Nashville - a remarkable replication of what it sounds like to sit in my studio control room. I think it’s a valuable asset to anyone trying to define what a truly great mix is. It simply makes the mixing job easier.”

Nx Ocean Way is available for PC and Mac in VST/AU/AAX formats. It can currently be had for the sale price of just $35 (regular price $199). Find out more on the Waves website.